Psalms 35:23

_STIR UP THYSELF, AND AWAKE TO MY JUDGMENT, EVEN UNTO MY CAUSE, MY GOD AND MY LORD._ Awake ... - awake to vindicate my right and plead my cause (Psalms 9:4; Psalms 18:2)....

17-28 Though the people of God are, and study to be, quiet, yet it has been common for their enemies to devise deceitful matters against them. David prays, My soul is in danger, Lord, rescue it; it belongs to thee the Father of spirits, therefore claim thine own; it is thine, save it! Lord, be not far from me, as if I were a stranger. He who exalted the once suffering Redeemer, will appear for all his people: the roaring lion shall not destroy their souls, any more than he could that of Christ, their Surety. They trust their souls in his hands, they are one with him by faith, are precious in his sight, and shall be rescued from destruction, that they may give thanks in heaven...

Verse Psalms 35:23. _STIR UP THYSELF, AND AWAKE TO MY JUDGMENT_] I have delivered my cause into thy hand, and appeal to thee as my Judge; and by thy decision I am most willing to abide....

STIR UP THYSELF - Arouse thyself as if from sleep. See Psalms 44:23. AND AWAKE TO MY JUDGMENT - To execute judgment for me, or to render me justice. A similar petition (almost in the same words) occurs in Psalms 7:6. See the notes at that passage. EVEN UNTO MY CAUSE - In my behalf; or, in the cause which so nearly pertains to me....

EXPOSITION A PSALM ascribed to David by the title, and with many characteristics of his early style—abrupt, impassioned, full of lively and graphic images, and full of transitions The picture which the writer draws of his own circumstances and position (Psalms 35:11, Psalms 35:19) accords well with what we know of David's life when he was a fugitive from Saul, and there is a special agreement between the first verse of the psalm and words historically ascribed to David at this period of his career (1 Samuel 24:15). The psalm naturally divides itself into three portions, nearly of equal length (Psalms

STIR UP THYSELF AND AWAKE,.... Who seemed to be asleep in the apprehensions of the psalmist, and to take no notice of his distresses, and the insults of his enemies; see Psalms 44:23; he adds, TO MY JUDGMENT, [EVEN] TO MY CAUSE; that is, to plead it and maintain it, and avenge him of his enemies, as in Psalms 35:1; making use of his covenant interest in him as a plea for it to engage him to do it, saying, MY GOD, AND MY LORD; see Psalms 22:1....

Psalms 35 The Cry for Justice and Divine Help _ 1. The cry of distress (Psalms 35:1)_ 2. The contrast? (Psalms 35:11) 3. Prayer for vindication and victory (Psalms 35:19) This Psalm introduces us again to the suffering of the righteous, giving another prophetic picture of the distress of the remnant. When David composed this Psalm we do not know. But He casts himself completely on the Lord and calls to Him for help and vindication. Thus the godly have always done when surrounded by the enemies who persecuted them. The condition of the godly when violence is in the earth during the time of Jacob's trouble

XXXV. PRAYER AGAINST TREACHEROUS FOES BY ONE WHO IS QUIET IN THE LAND. Psalms 35:6_ b_ should replace Psalms 35:5_ b_. Chaff driven before the wind may well suggest the image of the angel pursuing the foe but not that of pushing or thrusting. Psalms 35:7. Read, Without a cause have they hid for me their net: without a cause have they dug a pit for my life. Psalms 35:9 f. Soul and bones stand for the whole person. Psalms 35:12_ b_. The text cannot be right. Laying snares for my soul is a possible conj

JUDGMENT. vindication. MY GOD AND MY LORD. Compare John 20:28. GOD. Hebrew. _Elohim._ App-4. LORD. Hebrew Adonai. App-4....

Renewed prayer in a somewhat calmer tone....